Gareth had gone home hours before, and Stephen had finished clearing out his desk. Neither had noticed that there was anything off about Dr. Mendez’s behavior, though Gareth was naturally cautious.

Dr. Mendez stared at the readings on the screen and smiled. The autopsy on the squirrel had come back, and with it had come some surprising conclusions.

The cause of death was blunt force trauma that shattered the creature’s spine. That was unsurprising, but what made the doctor raise an eyebrow was that the energy pathways were still active. They didn’t have any energy left, which was anticipated due to the death of the creature, but they were active.

Lifeforms that got contaminated with the energy had always, previously, had their energy channels collapse immediately upon death. That was why no scientist had never been able to examine them in-depth.

There was no hesitation when Dr. Mendez clicked the icon securing the results of the autopsy and linking it to his research identification. Now, without his authorization, only two or three of the energy organization’s top directors would be able to view the information. No others would be privy to the results, and that was key to his plans.

He picked up the phone and immediately placed a call.

“Yes, autopsy? Yes, this is Dr. Mendez calling. Authorization code Uniform-Charlie-Charlie-7-4-6-5. Please immediately cryogenically freeze sample Echo-Tango-Romeo-November-6-8-8. Thank you. Also, please ensure that canister is secure-linked to my badge information and vaulted. No, there is nothing else necessary.”

He hung up the call and immediately dialed another number.

“Dr. Mitchell? Yes, this is Dr. Raul Mendez from over in the energy research department. It’s a pleasure to talk to you again, as well! It’s been what… 3 years since we met on that expedition over to Panama? Yes, that jaguar still gives me nightmares. Hah! Say, I need a favor from you if it isn’t too much trouble? Thanks! I’d be in your debt.

“I need one secure bio-engineering lab reserved for the next four years. I know that it is a lot to ask… no, no. I won’t need any special attendants made available. I’ve just got a private project that I’d like to spend some time working on… nothing too groundbreaking this time, no. You can? Awesome! Thanks again!

“Yes, we’ll need to do lunch soon to catch up. How does Monday sound? Excellent! The dinner on 12th Street works for me, as well. Noon? Perfect. See you then!”

With those two calls out of the way, Dr. Hernandez typed on his computer for a moment and then submitted the sample transfer request for the squirrel’s remains. The cryopod would be transferred to the new lab the next day.

With a few more clicks, he opened another autopsy report. This one for the deceased individual. This time there was no additional surprises. The individual had died due to both blunt force trauma from a tremendous impact and the subsequent cerebral laceration from the knife.

Unfortunately, there was nothing conclusive about what caused the incident. There were just indications of the initial impact, secondary impact with the pole, and then the immediate death due to the knife.

Dr. Mendez sat back in his chair and closed his eyes. Energy. Energy was the only common factor between all three incidents. First the stiff, then the squirrel, and then the park. He’d already checked Gareth’s background, and there was nothing there to indicate any sort of abnormality except his presence in the park. In fact, the police had sent reports that Gareth’s orphanage director indicated that Gareth generally spent time there by himself.

It was suspicious, sure, but scientists didn’t rely on suspicion to formulate their hypothesis. Dr. Mendez favored the idea that somehow the squirrel had been involved in the alleyway incident, or that there was some factor that had- as of yet- not come into play.

“Time will tell, I suppose. We’ll just have to wait and see.” He smiled, stood, and left for his on-site residence to get some well-needed rest. It had been an eventful day.

-----------------

Gareth had returned to his room at the orphanage with an escort. He was advised that they would send a car to pick him up for his new job the day after next. It was currently Wednesday, so Friday was his first day.

He sat down on the small cot in his room. It was covered in a single thick quilt that looked to be sewn from whatever fabric happened to be available at the time. It had some fraying edges, but at least it was warm. The heat register next to the door kick on for a moment, and briefly pushed a small amount of the cold out of his spartan habitation.

His room was mostly bare stone block harvested from some quarry long ago. Even the floor was stone, though it was mostly covered by a small area rug. There were a few extra sets of cloths in his dresser drawers, a small lamp, and a metal chest at the foot of the bed.

Gareth kept some small things of interest in the chest. They were just curiosities found in his ventures on the streets, but none of them were of significant emotional or financial value. All-in-all, he had nothing to bring with him to the energy organization.

That was a sad statement on his life up until now, but he could sense that things were about to change. It was daunting, but welcome.

He picked up a book that was resting on his pillow. It was on advanced mathematics. Though, judging from the yellowed pages and archaic spelling, it was older than he could even guess, it was at least something to learn. He’d read it many times before and could almost quote it in its entirety. That said, he felt whatever hand-up he could achieve was a necessary investment for the future.

He smiled. Change was good. He was apprehensive, and still was grasping the existence of DEE, but that did not stop life from going on around him. He wasn’t about to take a chance on his future by rejecting this new opportunity and whatever that entailed.

*Gareth, as a reminder, since you always fall asleep while reading, you have one augmentation that has been applied. It hasn’t been activated at this time. Would you like to activate it in passive mode?*

‘Passive mode? What is that?’

*This new augmentation has both an active mode and a passive mode. The passive mode provides the pseudo-radar functionality. However, while I was implementing the function, I also discovered that you would be able to utilize energy in conjunction with the radar to initialize and active scan. This would provide a burst of coverage for 5 seconds covering approximately 500 meters. It is able to identify threats, weapons, and so on, using the energy matrix permeating the world. These can then be displayed as visual feedback to you.*

‘Oh! Alright! Start the passive mode!’ Gareth gave a nod.

All of a sudden, his vision flickered, and white shapes formed. Each shape was a person within the surrounding 200 meters. He could see their outlines and based on their motion judge their activities. There was currently an orphan sneaking in the kitchens looking for something to eat while the cooks were away. In the basement, one of the older orphans was apparently engaged in some rather passionate kissing with a girlfriend or boyfriend. Across the street, a baker was locking his store’s door for the night. There were more, but Gareth didn’t take the time to examine each of them.

‘Whoa! This is incredible!’ Gareth winced as he noticed the individuals in the basement again, ‘DEE, can you filter the content and only show an indicator for each individual unless I tell you? I feel like I’m intruding.’

*Haha. Sure. You’re a good kid, Gareth. I’m happy your my host.*

The white forms turned into white dots instead. Gareth sighed in relief. He blinked and noticed the forms didn’t fade with his eyes closed. ‘Hmmm. DEE, can this be shut off while I’m asleep unless someone is heading my direction?’

*Of course! When you’re going to sleep, I’ll make sure to close all displays and information unless I need to get your attention.*

‘That’d be great.’ Gareth grinned, ‘Alright, well, now for some reading! I’ll check my status tomorrow, alright DEE?’

*Alright, Gareth. Good night!*

With that, the numerous displays faded from his view and Gareth read until he fell asleep.